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Friday, February 20, 2009

Print people

The House blog team wants to recognize the print shop crew in the chief clerk's office. We always see the names of our lawmakers on twitter streams, in blog posts and splattered throughout news stories, but rarely are "the backbones" of the legislative process mentioned.

Last night was first lateral deadline. That means that a bill must have been filed and sent into the last committee it is assigned to or else it's dead. Office staff stays late to make sure bills are filed before deadline, and the print shop work 'till morning sometimes to get everything printed for second reading on the House floor.

The print shop night crew was here until 11:30 p.m. last night, which is considerably early compared to past legislative sessions. First lateral went pretty smoothly through the cooperative work between committees, HMSO and the Clerk's Office. Committees scheduled hearings early and filed bills as soon as it was ready instead of waiting for the deadline, allowing HMSO and Clerk's Office to complete their review and numbering of committee reports, and the print shop crew to print committee reports and bill drafts quickly without waiting around for last-minute filings.

In this present economy, we all agree and wish for a nice paying career, a compensation worth for a job well done. A recognition and acknowledgement of a work well done is priceless...! I don't know the rest of the team... but from your friends in CA, more power to you guys! I'm perhaps partial for single-handedly mentioning my sis Sly! ..... Susan